What Matters Most is a gallery of Melamed's self-penned hits and a sampling of powerful but lesser known songs that spotlights his genius as a songwriter and performer. While revisiting some of his signature hits for artists like Trisha Yearwood and Phil Vassar, Melamed lays in material that charts new territory for this seasoned artist.

"I had been writing in L.A. whenever I was off the road and enjoyed some success," says Melamed (cuts with Cher, Tina Turner, Phoebe Snow). "When I came to Nashville to work with Rosanne Cash, I found a community of other L.A. transplants who convinced me that this was the place to be if I wanted to get serious about songwriting. I agreed. I listened, wrote and co-wrote and was fortunate to find a niche in this town of highly supportive and creative music people."

Melamed packed up everything and moved to Music City in 1986. Almost immediately, his deeply rooted Southern California and R&B musical influences fascinated Nashville-based artists and A&R executives alike. Since then he has had a treasury of songs recorded by the likes of Trisha Yearwood ("Walkaway Joe") John Anderson ("Hillbilly Hollywood"), Jill Sobule ("Too Cool To Fall In Love"), Boy Howdy ("She'd Give Anything"), Restless Heart ("Tell Me What You Dream"), Ty Herndon ("What Mattered Most"), Gerald Levert ("I'd Give Anything") and Phil Vassar ("I'll Take That As A Yes").

What Matters Most incorporates some of Melamed's country hits, but with a different twist. "I'm basically a rock-'n'-roll guy, and Jim Tract at Adroit gets that," he says. "He brought in some great musicians for the sessions."
What transpired will surprise country fans and delight anyone who likes a great song. With master session men Pat Buchanan (Faith Hill) on guitar, Fred Eltringham on drums (Wallflowers, Dixie Chicks), and Harry Stinson (Marty Stuart, Lyle Lovett), the CD is infused with an alternative sound that is contemporary and fresh.

What Matters Most also includes some of Melamed's favorite compositions that never made it to the radio. "I'll Leave the Light On", written with Billy Mann, is hard-core blues. "One Little Stone" is a Band-inspired tune that will take listeners back to that house at Big Pink. Melamed co-wrote it with long-time collaborators Gary Burr, Bob DiPiero and Jim Photoglo.
"There was never a tense moment producing this record," laughs Jim Tract, president of Adroit Records. "We had a great depth of material � very stimulating stuff that brought out this fantastic level of creativity. The musicians had fun and began thinking and acting like a band, and I think it shows in the tracks."